That Thing He Does
by Awakened Angel
Summary: When Shelby Wyatt is on her death bed at the ripe old age of ninety-seven, she thinks there will be several moments that occurred in her life that will flash before her eyes, and she'll remember most, but not all, of them with great joy and no sense of regret. One thing she'll never forget is Caleb Haas and the apartment they shared in college.
**This is a fic I wrote like...four months ago, I think? It was a prompt from shaleb-fanfiction on tumblr that I filled out, and I decided to post it on here, as well as the others I wrote over there. The prompt was:** **Could you please write a college au where Shelby is having a sleepover with some of her friends and they're having girl talk and she brags about how good Caleb is in bed and he overheard her since he lives there too and you can take it from there? Thanks a lot!**

When Shelby Wyatt is on her death bed at the ripe old age of ninety-seven (Her great-grandmother, who died at the age of ninety-six, told her right before she died that she would have loved to live for one more year), surrounded by her husband, a faceless but tall man, her children, a boy and a girl, and her grandchildren, however they turned out, she thinks there will be several moments that occurred in her life that will flash before her eyes and she'll remember most, but not all, of them with great joy and no sense of regret.

She'll definitely remember dancing to _Mamma Mia!_ and _Hairspray_ showtunes with her best friend in her room. And she'll remember her first kiss and the first time she had sex.

But one thing she'll never forget is Caleb Haas and the apartment they shared in college.

It wasn't a big place. Hell, it wasn't even a nice place. Shelby offered to get an apartment with her trust fund that her parents had set up for her before they died, but Caleb refused. Even though he, too, was born to two wealthy people, he absolutely despised the thought of going to his father for anything. So they were living in a small two-bedroom apartment that had the necessities (Bathroom, bedrooms, living room, kitchen with enough room for a table and chairs).

And though Shelby loathed to admit it when it happened, Caleb was right in some way when he insisted getting the small but practical place. "What do we need a big place for, anyway, Shelby?" he asked her, giving her that smirk he always gave her when he wanted to win her over. "We're two people in _college_. What else do we need but a bed to sleep in, food to eat, and a shower to clean up in?"

Shelby liked her apartment and she liked _most_ of her professors and the other students who occupied her classes and she liked the college she was attending. But she liked Caleb the best.

They met as seniors touring the campus of the college and when the semester started the following fall, they found that they had more than one class together. So when their first year wrapped up and they decided to celebrate with a few bottles of wine Caleb had been able to sneak in to Shelby's dorm, the idea of getting an apartment together arose.

"Seriously think about this for a moment, Shelby," Caleb urged, though his words weren't as influential as he'd like to think due to the constant slurring and grammatical errors he kept making. "Think about…about how much fun it'll be. And we'll get to bring home whoever we want because, y'know, if they don't go here they're probably legal to go into bars unlike us and won't run away at the thought of sneaking into your _dorm_ , even if it is a single."

Shelby wrinkled her nose at the thought but silently agreed. She had been limited to sleeping with her fellow classmates, and though some of them were very enthusiastic when it came to sleeping with her (or just any girl), she loved the idea of having her own apartment.

They agreed to go apartment hunting throughout the summer, and in the end, they sealed it with a kiss. A very drunk, sloppy kiss, but a good kiss. It turned into several kisses that prompted Shelby to knock over one of the empty bottles of wine onto the carpeted floor, and Caleb opened his mouth to speak, but when she took off her shirt the words died on his lips. The night ended with them sleeping together, and the morning began with them brushing their teeth right before going at it again.

Four months later, they still had their apartment and right now, Shelby was currently using their living room for a study session but it had turned into a regular old sleepover.

"So be honest," Natalie spoke from her spot against the back of the couch, the bowl of potato chips in her lap. "Everyone knows you and Caleb are sleeping together. Tell us. What is it like? He's always bragging about 'how good he can treat a woman' and all that. Is it true? Does he really know how to treat a woman or is he just saying that so they'll sleep with him?"

Shelby shrugged and smiled coyly, twirling a piece of blonde hair around her index finger, the picture of an innocent baby doll. "He's alright, I guess."

Alex snorted but didn't elaborate.

"And what are you laughing about over there, Miss Parrish?" Shelby asked, hitting her knee playfully. "Got something to share with the group?"

"I was just thinking about how Caleb seems better than _alright_ because I remember walking in here while they were busy going at it and Shelby was shouting more descriptive adjectives than _that_." She smirked at Shelby, who rolled her eyes but was still slightly pink.

"Like you're any better," Shelby muttered, looking down at the floor.

"Don't you ever want something more…I don't know, permanent?" Raina asked.

Shelby thought about it for a minute before shaking her head. "No," she said. "Why would I? I'm too busy with school and everything like that to be distracted with a real relationship."

"That sounds like a really lonely life you're leading there," Raina said. Shelby's eyebrows shut up, but she didn't notice. "I mean, your excuse right now is school. When you're done with school, you'll go onto grad school, which will be the next excuse. And then your job. The excuses will never stop coming, and before you know it, you'll have lived your whole life alone."

Shelby didn't answer. She had a _plan_. She had her whole life figured out, and Raina's speculating thoughts wouldn't change the plan she had spent years figuring out.

"Caleb is just fun right now," she said finally. "Really… _really_ good fun. There's nothing wrong with having fun."

"So does that mean he's doing his…job?" Natalie asked. "He's not only looking out for himself, but he's, like…taking care of you, too, or whatever?"

Shelby grinned. "He's an excellent caretaker."

Alex wrinkled her nose. "That sounded like some kind of roleplay thing you guys are in to."

Shelby wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Alex and the rest of the group, causing her to groan in disgust and roll her eyes.

"I mean, as long as you're happy," Nimah said, shrugging her shoulders indifferently.

"I am," Shelby sighed, a smile dancing on the edges of her lips.

( O O O )

The next morning, when Shelby woke up, she had to deal with four girls who were not just reluctant to get up but simply appalled at the thought of Shelby wanting them to wake up so they could get out of her apartment and she could have it to herself once more. After she had finally cleared them out of her front door, she sighed and leaned against it, closing her eyes.

"Morning, sunshine." Caleb appeared out of his room and smiled brightly at her as he walked towards her, taking her hands in his and prompting her to open her eyes with a kiss planted firmly on her cheek, surprising her. "How are you doing on this very fine and lovely morning?"

Shelby raised her eyebrows. "What do you want?"

"Do I have to want something in order to be nice to you when you wake up, Shelby? I'm insulted that you think of me in such a low regard." His eyes were twinkling and he only smiled wider by the minute.

Shelby scoffed, putting her hand on his chest. "Caleb, please. You always want something. What is it?"

Caleb shrugged, grinning playfully. "I just wanted to know if it was true that I was the best sex of your life, seeing as you were saying that last night with your friends."

Shelby's eyes widened, trying to quickly recover from the shock. "I don't remember saying you were the best sex, sorry to damage your fragile ego."

"Whatever, you said something about how good I am. Does that ring any bells?"

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Your… _skills_ in bed may or may not have come up at some point last night. But it doesn't matter, because you were apparently eavesdropping on my private conversations with my friends!" she said, hitting his chest.

Caleb caught her hand in his and laughed.

"Come on, it's no big deal. It's not like I didn't already _know_ that sex with me was incredible and mind-blowing, and…all those other nice things you said about me to your friends." Caleb got closer and closer to her with each word, advancing on her slowly and caging her in against the door, his hands coming up to press against the door on either side of her head so she was trapped.

"Don't get so cocky," Shelby breathed, her eyes going down from Caleb's face to his chest. "It's not a good look on you."

"Don't I have the right to be just a little bit cocky?" he asked, one hand going to her hip.

"I might just take back everything I said last night. Even how much I like that thing you do with your tongue."

He gripped her hip and yanked her closer to him, kissing her roughly. "Don't kid yourself," he said against her lips. "You'd never be able to take back those things. You're a lot of things, Shelby Wyatt, but a good liar is not one of them." Caleb's hands continued moving down her waist to her thighs, and he lifted her easily so she could wrap her legs around his waist. "Just tell me…were the things you told them true? Or were you just trying to impress all your little friends?"

Shelby linked her hands together around the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess they were true. Does it matter? You always brag about your 'skills in the bedroom' anyway. Would my opinion really mean that much to you?"

Caleb snorted. "Please. We're sleeping together. Regularly. Of course it means something to me."

Shelby furrowed her brow. "Why, what's the big deal? I've heard the girls you bring home at night."

Caleb smiled again and kissed her once more. "Because I need to know you aren't sleeping with me out of pity."

Shelby laughed. "Okay, if it boosts your ego," she said cheekily as she moved her hand down his chest slowly, "I'm sleeping with you because I really, _really_ like sleeping with you."

She earned herself another kiss. When he pulled back from her, he had that look in his eye that told her he wanted something from her. "So…if you love sleeping with me so much, does that mean you'll do that thing I've been asking you to do for the past, like…month?" he asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully and leaning in closer to her one more time so he could kiss her as he let her down slowly. "Because I've been thinking about it for the longest time."

"Caleb…" Shelby sighed, turning her head to the side.

"Kiss me, Shelby."

She did.

He kissed her back and quickly moved them over to the couch, which Shelby stumbled onto it when her knees hit the edge of the cushion and she fell down, bringing Caleb with her. She let out a high-pitched laugh and took the back of Caleb's neck in her hand, bringing him down so he could kiss down her jawline and collarbone as she lifted her shirt up and throwing it to the side

The sound of the front door opening made Caleb sit up abruptly, still straddling Shelby's waist.

"Hey, Shelby, have you seen my—Oh, my God!" Alex yelled, slamming the door shut behind her as she walked inside the apartment. "It is like nine o' clock in the morning, and you two are already screwing? What is with you people?" She rolled her eyes and stalked to the middle of the living room, barely paying attention to a shirtless Shelby laying underneath a flustered Caleb, trapped underneath him and pinned to the couch by his knees.

"Well, technically, we weren't screwing just yet, thanks to you barging in through the door." Caleb said, running a hand through his mussed-up hair. "Always a pleasure to see you, Alex."

"I'm just getting my shorts. I forgot them here."

Shelby nodded, refusing to open her mouth because she was scared that if she tried to speak, all that would come out would be an embarrassed little squeak she'd deny to everyone (including both people present) for the rest of her life. She just waved at her friend from behind Caleb's arm, still shielding her slightly red face and her bare waist.

"Well," Alex said, holding up a pair of plaid pajama shorts. "Got what I came for. Shelby, I'll see you in class. Caleb, I'll see when you aren't screwing my best friend."

And with that she walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind her once again.

The moment she was gone, Shelby let out a groan, covering her face with her hands. "This is exactly what we were talking about last night!" she moaned. "Caleb, we have horrible timing. I can't believe she walked in on us _again_ when we were in the middle of—"

"In the middle of?" Caleb interrupted, raising his eyebrows. With a wicked grin, he yanked down her shorts, much to Shelby's surprise, and began to crawl down her body. "Shelby, we haven't even gotten _started_ yet."


End file.
